FERPA

A Colorado judge denied the media's request to film and photograph Monday's hearing of the man accused of killing 12 and wounding 58 people at an Aurora movie theater last week.

Arapahoe County District Court Judge William Sylvester has ordered that no cameras or audio recording be allowed at James Holmes' July 30 hearing where charges are expected to be filed against him. The order is part of a broader trend of restrictions issued by Sylvester limiting press coverage in the Colorado shooting.

The Ohio Supreme Court denied ESPN, Inc. access to certain records relating to the NCAA's investigation of Ohio State University football players who allegedly traded sports memorabilia for tattoos. The court's ruling, released today, cited a federal act that withholds funds to public schools that release educational records in denying ESPN's request.

A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals in Chicago (7th Cir.) today ordered the dismissal of an open records-related lawsuit filed by the Chicago Tribune against the University of Illinois, ruling that it lacked jurisdiction to hear the case.

Records related to a secret admission process at the University of Illinois that favored applicants with ties to large donors and the politically connected cannot be considered confidential student education records exempt from public release, according to a friend-of-the-court brief filed today in the U.S. Court of Appeals in Chicago (7th Cir.) by the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press.

A federal judge ruled this week that the U.S. Family Education Rights and Privacy Act does not bar the University of Illinois from releasing to the Chicago Tribune admission records of applicants who appeared on a list of well-connected students.

The Iowa Supreme Court will weigh whether a federal student privacy law should override a state open records law, after the court heard oral arguments Oct. 15 over a university's withholding of documents in a sexual assault case.

The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee has agreed to settle an open records lawsuit by providing previously redacted information and paying $11,765 in legal fees to its student newspaper, The UWM Postreported.

College sports programs across the country are facing media scrutiny after a Columbus Dispatchreport last month revealed inconsistent interpretations of the secrecy provisions in the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA).